Genesis 9:17

17 So God said to Noah, "The rainbow is the sign of my covenant. I have made my covenant between me and all life on earth."

Genesis 9:17 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 9:17

And God said to Noah, this is the token of the covenant,
&c.] Which is repeated for the greater confirmation and certainty of it, since the fears of men would be apt to run very high, especially while the flood was fresh in memory; which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the
earth:
see ( Genesis 9:9-11 ) , it is highly probable, that from the rainbow being the token of the covenant between God and Noah, and the creatures, sprung the fable of the Chinese concerning their first emperor, Fohi, who seems to be the same with Noah, and whom they call the son of heaven, and say he had no father; which is this, that his mother, walking on the bank of a lake near Lanthien, in the province of Xensi, trod upon a large footstep of a man impressed upon the sand, and from thence, being surrounded with the rainbow, conceived and brought forth Fohi F24.


FOOTNOTES:

F24 Martin. Sinic. Hist. p. 11.

Genesis 9:17 In-Context

15 Then I will remember my covenant between me and you and every kind of living thing. The waters will never become a flood to destroy all life again.
16 "When the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it. I will remember that my covenant will last forever. It is a covenant between me and every kind of living thing on earth."
17 So God said to Noah, "The rainbow is the sign of my covenant. I have made my covenant between me and all life on earth."
18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan.
19 The people who were scattered over the earth came from Noah's three sons.
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